Latching device and combination locking means



Dec. 17, 1968 c. s. GEHRIE 3,416,338

LATCHING DEVICE AND COMBINATION LOCKING MEANS Filed Nov. 9, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fl 3 c c WT G6 3 \04- as E 00 2 G4 22 12' J M F I E 4 INVENTOR.

CHARLES S. GEHRI E A-n-aahav Dec. 17, 1968 c. s. GEHRIE 3,416,338

LATCHING DEVICE AND COMBINATION LOCKING MEANS Filed Nov. 9, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet z INVENTOR.

CHARLES s. GEHRIE.

ATTOR N EY Dec. 17, 1968 c. s. GEHRIE 3,416,338

LATCHING DEVICE AND COMBINATION LOCKING MEANS Filed Nov. 9, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig.9

INVENTOR. CHARLES s. ama:

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,416,338 LATCHIN G DEVICE AND COMBINATION LOCKING MEANS Charles S. Gehrie, Montclair, NJ assignor to Presto Lock Co., Inc., Garfield, N..l., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 9, 1966, Ser. No. 593,123 11 Claims. (Cl. 70-312) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A combination lock of simplified construction wherein the latching slide member is constructed and related to the sleeves cooperable with the dials to selectively lock or unlock the member. The lock employs spring means to key the sleeves to their associated dials, and the same spring means serves to urge the latching slide member toward latched position. Also, the combination lock is provided with a visual finding feature to enable the lock to be opened when the open combination is not known.

The invention relates to releasable latching 'devices for luggage cases or the like provided with keyless or combination locking means, and is more particularly directed to improvements in devices of the type disclosed in Reissue Patent [No 16,833, Igranted Dec. 27, 1927.

A primary object of the invention is to provide a latching device having combination locking means associated therewith (hereinafter referred to as a combination lock) of a simplified construction, the number of parts being less than heretofore required for locks of this type. As a result, the cost of making certain of the parts of the prior art devices is eliminated; also, the number of operations to assemble the parts is reduced, thereby affording a reduction in the cost of making the lock.

Pursuant to the foregoing main objective, another object of the invention is to provide a combination lock wherein the essential latching slide member is constructed to serve the added function of furnishing cooperable means for locking the member in its latched position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a combination lock of a construction wherein a single spring functions both to resiliently urge the latching slide member toward latched position and to resiliently key the dials and their associated sleeves to one another.

Another object of the invention is to provide a combination lock with a visual finding feature, whereby the combination lock in its locked condition may be opened or unlocked without the necessity of knowing the combination. This feature enables setting the lock to open combination when a dial has been inadvertently or otherwise rotated to place the combination in locked condition with the open combination unknown.

These, and other advantages and improved results of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the combination lock of the invention, this view also showing a hasp assembly releasably connected thereto;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the combination lock apart from the hasp assembly, the face plate being partially shown and broken away;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the underside of the combination lock, the back cover being partly broken away for clarity of illustration;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal, vertical, cross-sectional view taken approximately in the plane of line 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 with the hasp assembly omitted, except that the combination locking means is on open combination and the latching slide member is shown in retracted position;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged, transverse, vertical, cross-sectional view taken approximately in the plane of line 77 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged, transverse, vertical, cross-sectional view taken approximately in the plane of line 88 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the underside of the latching slide member of the device;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of the inner side of the back cover;

FIG. 11 shows a dial with an associated flanged sleeve; and

FIG. 12 is a top plan view of a member which provides resilient means cooperable with the dials to resiliently maintain the dials in desired rotated position.

Referring to the drawings, a combination lock made in accordance with the invention comprises a combination lock A for cooperation with a hasp assembly B. The hasp assembly may be of any suitable construction and as illustrated may be of a conventional type. Essentially, the combination lock A comprises a face plate C, a latching slide member D, a back cover E, resilient means F, and combination means for releasably locking the latching slide member in latched position. As will be subsequently explained, the resiliently mounted latching slide member D releasably connects the combination lock A to the hasp assembly B; in addition, the latching slide member is constructed to provide means cooperable with portions of sleeves 20 of the combination locking means. There is one sleeve for each dial 22. The sleeves are so formed and related to cooperable means provided by the latching slide member to either lock the member in its latched position or to clear the latching slide member to enable retraction of the member to unlatched position.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, the combination locking means includes three sleeves 20 and dials 22. With three dials each having ten indicia or numbers thereon, there are one thousand dilferent possible combinations available. It will be understood that any desired number of dials may be used to furnish the desired number of available combinations.

In greater detail, and as shown in FIG. 1, the dials 22 are each provided with indicia or numbers in equidistantly spaced relation on the outer circumference. Between adjacent numbers, there are grooves 24 (FIGS. 7, 8 and 11) adapted to receive means provided by a spring member H (FIG. 12) so that the dials when related to their respective sleeves 20 and mounted on a shaft I may be resiliently maintained in selected circumferential position.

Referring to FIG. 11, each dial 22 has a central opening 26 through which the shank 28 of a sleeve 20 may be extended with a slight amount of clearance (FIGS. 5 and 6). The sleeve has a central bore 30 of a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the shaft I. At one end thereof, each sleeve is provided with a flange 32 having a larger diameter than the central opening 26 of a dial. The flanged end of the sleeve is provided with a flat portion 34. At the juncture of the flange and the sleeves shank, a detent or detents 36 are provided. On one side of each dial 22, circumferentially arranged detent receiving recesses 38 are provided adjacent the opening 26, there being one recess in alignment with each number on the dials outer circumference. The recesses 38 extend only partially into the side wall of the dial and are adapted to receive the detents 36, whereby a dial and a sleeve may be keyed or meshed to one another.

As shown in FIG. 1, the face plate C is provided with means for securing the assembly A to a wall of a luggage case or the like. Where, as illustrated, the face plate is substantially rectangular, openings 40 are provided at each corner so that rivets or the like may be extended through the openings to make the connection of the parts. The face plate is provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced slots 42 each of a width slightly greater than the thickness of a dial 22. As shown in FIGS. -8, the dials are partially extended through the slots.

As shown in FIGS. 36, the face plate C has a slot 44 extended therethrough through which an eye 46 on a tongue of the hasp assembly B may be extended. On the other side of the dial slots 42, another slot 48 is provided. The purpose of the slot 48 is to enable a portion of a puller 50 to be extended therethrough for connection to the latching slide member D positioned on the underside of the face plate. The puller is connected to the latching slide member by a pair of transversely spaced rivets 52 which are extended through holes 54 in the latching slide member (FIG. 9) and headed over on the underside of the slide member (FIGS. 5 and 6). The puller 50 having larger dimensions than the slot 48, connects the latching slide member to the face plate. The rivets are related to the transversely spaced sides of the slot 48 to also provide means for guiding the latching slide member for longitudinal movement.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6, the face plate C is formed to facilitate connection to it of the back cover E. A cutout 56 is provided in communication with the slot 48 to receive a tang 58 on the longitudinal center line of the back cover at the top of the back covers end wall 60. The opposite end of the back cover has an end wall 60' parallel to the end wall 60, there being a connecting back wall 62 between the end walls. As best shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 10, the back wall 62 is outwardly dished at its central portion 63 to furnish room for the dials. The portions 65, 65' on each side of the central portion are horizontally arranged and lie in the same plane. The function of the back cover to protect the enclosed dials, sleeves and shaft is completed by the transversely spaced side walls 64, 64.

As best shown in FIG. 10, the end wall 60' is provided with a lateral extension 66 from its top edge, the extension having an opening 68 for alignment with the slot 44 of the face plate. The opening 68 is provided with opposite cutouts 70, 70' through which tangs 72, 72' formed at the ends of the slot 44 of the face plate are extended and bent over to complete the connection as shown in FIG. 4. As will be subsequently explained, the back cover is formed to furnish a number of functions in addition to acting as a protective closure.

As previously indicated, the latching slide member D is connected at one end thereof to the puller 50 for longitudinal sliding movement on the underside of the face plate C. As shown in FIG. 9, the latching slide member is substantially rectangular in shape and is provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced slots 74. The central slot has its sides defined by the longitudinally spaced, transversely extending crossbar portions 76. The slots on each side of the central slot has its sides defined by a crossbar and the edge 78 for one slot, and the edge 80 for the other slot. The slots 74, there being three in number when there are three dials as illustrated, are of a greater width than the slots 42 in the face plate. As shown in FIG. 5, the slots 74 are each of a width slightly greater than the total thickness of a dial 22 and of the flange portion 32 of a sleeve 20. When the dials and the sleeves are operatively mounted on the shaft J, the flanges 32 of the sleeves adjacent their respective dials may be positioned within slots 74 while clearing the underside of the face plate C as shown in FIG. 7. When the flats 34 on all the sleeves are oriented as shown in FIG. 8, there is clearance of the latching slide members crossbar portions 76 and the edges 78 and 80 to allow movement of the slide member.

As shown in FIGS. 3-6 and 9, the latching slide member D is formed with a nose or latching portion 82 at one end thereof. As shown in FIGS. 3-6 and 10, the end wall 60' of the back cover has a cutout 84 to allow the nose 82 to extend therethrough. The latching slide member is provided with means cooperable with a resiliently mounted bracket which also serves to journal an end of the shaft J, as will be subsequently described. For this purpose, the latching slide member preferably is formed with downwardly extending bearing means in the form of integral, transversely spaced lugs 86 just rearward of the nose 82 and at each side thereof.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the shaft .T is provided with an annular flange 88 which serves as a stop near one end of the shaft for the abutting, end to end sleeves 20. The shaft J is journaled in a pair of longitudinally spaced brackets 90, 90' which are provided with holes to allow the shaft to extend therethrough with a slight amount of clearance. The bracket 90' abuts the shaft flange 88. The resilient means F, preferably in the form of a helically coiled compression spring, is positioned over the shaft to engage the adjacent sleeve at one end and the wall provided by the bracket 90. The end 92 of the shaft is headed over to provide an end stop for the adjacent bracket 90. The spring normally urges the sleeves to the right as viewed in FIGS. 5 and 6 whereby the detents 36 are received in selected recesses 38 on the dials.

The opposite end. of the shaft J is extended through means 92 for disengaging the sleeves from their respective dials. Such means preferably is in the form of a lever rotatably mounted on the shaft. The bracket 90 is sandwiched between the lever and the shaft flange 88. The *base portion 94 of the lever abuts the end wall 60 of the back cover E. As shown in FIG. 2, also FIGS, 5 and 6, the lever extends through a cutout 96 in the back cover so that the lever may be grasped between the fingers. The cutout 96 is in communication with a larger opening 98 (FIG. 10) to allow the lever to be rotated and releasably held after the lever is moved to push the sleeves out of engagement from their respective dials against the force of the spring F. Then the dials may be rotated to a selected combination at the front of the device.

The lever can only be moved in the direction of the arrow X (FIG. 6) when the flats 34 on all of the sleeves are oriented as shown in FIG. 8. When so oriented, the sleeves clear the adjacent portions of the latching slide member. Also, with such orientation of the sleeves, the application of pressure in the direction of the arrow Y (FIG. 6) permits the latching slide member to be moved from the normally latched position shown in FIG. 5 to the unlatched position shown in FIG. 6 against the resilient force of the spring F.

The resilient mounting of the latching slide member by the same spring 70 which acts to key the sleeves 20 to the dials 22 will now be described. Such resilient mounting is afforded by the relationship of the latching slide member, the bracket 90 and the spring F. Moreover, the brackets 90, 90' in conjunction with the back cover provide means for supporting the latching slide member for longitudinal movement.

The brackets 90, 90 are rectangular in shape and of a height so that when the back cover E is secured to the face plate C (after the sub-assembly of latching slide member, dials, sleeves, brackets, spring, lever and shaft have been positioned onto the up-side-down face plate) the back cover serves as a support and guide for the brackets. The top edges of the brackets engage the underside of the latching slide member to confine the slide member for longitudinal movement between the brackets and the face plate. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the downturned bearing lugs 86 of the latching slide member are hooked over the top edge of the bracket 90. Thus, the spring F resiliently urges the bracket 90 against these portions of the latching slide member, whereby the latching slide member is resiliently urged to latched position. The bottom edge of the bracket 90 may be provided with horizontal extensions or feet 100 to prevent tilting of the slidably mounted bracket. As will be apparent from FIGS. 5 and 6, the horizontally extending portions 65, 65' of the back cover provide straight surfaces for the sliding movement thereon of the bottom edges of the brackets 90, 90. The rectangular shaped brackets are of a width slightly less than the distance between the sides 64 of the back cover. The brackets are therefore confined and guided for longitudinal movement by the U-shaped track provided by the bottom walls 65, 65' and the side walls 64 of the back cover. The positions of the bracket 90 when the latching slide member is in respective latching and unlatching position will be apparent from FIGS. 5 and 6. The bracket 90' is moved longitudinally in its track when the lever 92 is moved to disengage the sleeves from the dials.

The resilient, dial-cooperable means H is positioned to engage the individual dials. As shown in FIGS. 4-6 and 12, such means comprises a member having a plurality of spring fingers 104, one finger for each dial. The spring fingers are struck out and bent from a substantially rectangular piece of spring metal. Also, the member H is provided with openings 106 in alignment with the spring fingers to allow portions of the dials to be extended through such openings, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6'. The ends of the spring member are positioned on the horizontally extending portions 65, 65' of the back cover.

There are instances when the open combination may be changed and in effect lost. When the combination lock is shipped by the lock manufacturer to the luggage manufacturer who will assemble the lock with a luggage case, the lock is in its open combination; that is, the flats 34- on all the sleeves are related to the crossbars 76 and the edges 78 and 80 defining the slots 74 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8. When the luggage case with the lock secured thereto is in a luggage shop or a department of a store, the lock must be on open combination so that the purchaser of the case may then set the lock with the combination of his own secret selection.

It has been found that prospective customers of luggage are tempted to manipulate combination locks before becoming familiar with the written instructions which accompany the locks. As a result, the latching slide member is locked in its latched condition with the open combination unknown. This situation has occurred frequently, and has caused much difficulty. Luggage cases with the tampered locks are returned to the luggage manufacturer. In addition to onerous shipping charges, the manufacturer must bear the expense of trying to salvage the locks. The locks must be removed from the case shells, and then the back cover must be removed to expose the interior of the lock. This requires a great deal of effort, and often parts of the locks are mutilated beyond repair.

The foregoing problem and attendant difliculties are obviated by providing visual means for ascertaining the open combination. As shown in FIG. 11, the sleeves 20 are each provided with an indicator 110 on the shank portion of a sleeve. The indicator may be in the form of a slot as shown, or a spot of luminescent paint. In any event, the indicator on each sleeve is located 180 from the plane of the flat 34. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5-8, the back cover E is provided with apertures 112 which are in alignment with the plane of rotation of the visual indicators 110 when the combination is locked as shown in FIG. 5. The spring member H for the dials may be provided with notches 114 to assure that the indicators 110 may be sighted when viewed through the apertures 112. By sighting through the apertures and rotating the dials having the sleeves keyed thereto, the dials are rotated until one may see the visual indicator 110 on each sleeve, a condition whereby the sleeves are all oriented as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8. With the combination open, the latching slide member is movable to the unlatched position shown in FIG. 6. In such condition, the lever 92 may be moved to disconnect the sleeves from their respective dials. Then the dials may be rotated to the secret combination chosen by the individual user.

The hasp assembly B, as previously indicated, may be of a known construction. As illustrated, there is a base portion 116 having apertures 118 through which rivets may be extended to secure the hasp assembly to a shell of a luggage case or the like. The base portion is formed so that a tongue 120 may be hinged thereto. The tongue is provided with the aforementioned eye 46 into which the nose 82 of the latching slide member may extend to connect the combination lock assembly to the hasp assembly. As is common in the art, a spring 122 (FIG. 2) may be provided intermediate the base portion and the tongue to normally urge the tongue toward the up position Any suitable hasp assembly may be used with the combination of the invention.

It is believed that the advantages and improved results afforded by the minimal number of components, together with the minimal number of operations involved in assembling the components, to furnish the combination lock of the invention will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. Also, the visual means enabling the opening of a lock on an unknown combination is applicable to combination locks of a construction other than herein disclosed. Various changes and modifications may be made to the preferred embodiment of the invention hereinbefore described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as sought to be defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A combination lock comprising a face plate having longitudinally spaced slots, a manipulatable latching slide member on the underside of and connected to the face plate, the latching slide member having longitudinally spaced slots in alignment with but of greater width than the face plate slots, a longitudinally extending shaft on the underside of the latching slide member, dials positioned in said slot-s, a sleeve for each dial mounted on the shaft with the sleeves in abutting, end to end relationship, each sleeve having a flange :and a flat portion, the flanges being positioned and dimensioned to enter the slots in the latching slide member whereby movement of said member is blocked, the flat portions being dimensioned to permit lay-passing of the latching slide member, cooperable means provided by each dial and its respective sleeve for keying them together, spring means on the shaft normally urging the sleeves into keyed relationship with their respective dials, resilient dial-cooperable means, shifting means connected to and extending from the shaft for moving the sleeves out of keyed engagement from their respective dials, and a back cover connected to the face plate.

2. A combination look as set forth in claim 1 including means provided by the latching slide member related to the spring means to resiliently urge the latching slide member to latching position.

.3. A combination lock comprising a face plate having longitudinally spaced slots, a manipulatable latching slide member connected to the face plate, a longitudinally extending shaft on the underside of the latching slide member, dials positioned in said slots, a sleeve for each dial mounted on the shaft with the sleeves in abutting, end to end relationship, each sleeve having a flange and a flat portion, means provided by the latching slide member cooperable with the flanges to block movement of the member, the latching slide member by-passing the flat portions, cooperable means provided by each dial and its respective sleeve for keying them together, spring means on the shaft normally urging the sleeves into keyed relationship with their respective dials, means provided by the latching slide member related to said spring means whereby the latching slide member is normally resiliently urged to latched position, resilient dial-cooperable means, shifting means connected to and extending from the shaft for moving the sleeves out of keyed engagement from their respective dials, and a back cover connected to the face plate.

4. A combination lock comprising a face plate having longitudinally spaced slots, a manipulatable latching slide member on the underside of and connected to the face plate, the latching slide member having longitudinally spaced slots in alignment with but of greater Width than the face plate slots, a longitudinally extending shaft on the underside of the latching slide member, dials positioned in said slots, a sleeve for each dial mounted on the shaft with the sleeves abutting, end to end relationship, each sleeve having a flange and a fiat portion, the latching slide member slots allowing entry of the flanges whereby movement of the member is blocked, the latching slide member by-passing the flat portions, cooperable means provided by each dial and its respective sleeve for keying them together, spring means on the shaft nonmally urging the sleeves into keyed relationship with their respective dials, a pair of longitudinally spaced, slidable brackets journaling the shaft, one of the brackets being engaged by said spring means and cooperable with means provided by the latching slide member whereby the latching slide member is normally resiliently urged to latched position, resilient dial-cooperable means, shifting means connected to and extending from the shaft for moving the sleeves out of keyed engagement from their respective dials, and a back cover connected to the face plate.

5. A combination lock as set forth in claim 4, wherein the brackets engage the latching slide member, and the back cover is formed to provide guiding means for the brackets.

6. A combination lock as set forth in claim 4, wherein each of the sleeves is provided with a visual indicator and the back cover has aligned openings for viewing the indicators.

7. A combination lock as set forth in claim 6, wherein each sleeve has the visual indicator located 180 from the flat portion.

8. A combination lock as set forth in claim 7, wherein the visual indicator is a slot in the shank of the sleeve.

9. In a combination lock comprising a plate member, a latching slide member, longitudinally spaced slots in at least one of the members, dials positioned in said slot, resilient dial-cooperable means, a shaft, a sleeve for each dial mounted on the shaft, each sleeve having a flange and a flat portion for respective locking and unlocking of the latching member, and a back cover for the dials, sleeves, shaft and resilient, dial-cooperable means connected to the plate member, the improvement comprising a visual indicator on each of the sleeves to enable deterrnination of the locks open combination, and openings in the back cover for sighting the visual indicators.

10. In a combination lock as set forth in claim 9, wherein each sleeve has the visual indicator located 180 from the flat portion.

11. In a combination as set forth in claim 10, wherein the visual indicator is a slot in the shank of the sleeve.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 745,08 1 11/ 1903 Smith -304 1,604,866 10/ 1926 Wildriok 70-284 2,267,374 12/ 1941 Eber 705 MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT L. WOLFE, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 70288, 69 

